


𝐀 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋

by cryinghoe



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Because I Can't Stand Sadness, Character Death, F/M, I'm a Pisces, Inspired by An Amazing Artist, Lots Of Characters Dead Actually, No Seriously I Read It Last Night At 3:00 Am And Sobbed, Old Lady Toph, Spirit Aang and Sokka, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, This Isn't As Sad But It Was Sad, happy ending!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27235114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryinghoe/pseuds/cryinghoe
Summary: How long could she put this facade on? Where the vines would show her the people she so dearly missed with her entire soul. . .she knew that he wasn’t standing next to her, there was no heartbeat and there was no more softness in the air.“. . .You know that I know you’re not really there.” Toph blinks as she looks forward, ignoring the ache in her heart.
Relationships: Toph Beifong & Sokka, Toph Beifong/Sokka
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	𝐀 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋

**Author's Note:**

  * For [avatraang](https://archiveofourown.org/users/avatraang/gifts).



> hi guyyss lmaoooo i haven't written in a HOT HOT HOT second but y'know what that could change! i've just been very busy and very depressed, but it's not important. i really hope you guys enjoy this and i want to give a special thanks to @avatraang because they actually inspired this work! please please please go check out their profile and you BETTER read 'she loves him still.' i listened to As The World Caves In by Matt Maltese as I wrote this, so if you want a vibe check, there ya go! have fun reading <3

he stands before you with a soothing smile  
sings a final lullaby  
makes your heart beat one last time  
before you can whisper a goodbye.  
[ The Angel Of Death by Just Patty. ] 

. . . 

The lavish area buzzed with life, plants circling around and insects humming their songs into the gentle wind. The sun felt gentle through the holes of the tree, gently warming her pale skin. There were no horns creaming outside of her window, there were no giggling children on the broken sidewalk. . .This was not Republic City and for that, Toph Beifong was ever thankful. 

Her back ached, where did her prime years go? When she would run after criminals, jump into buildings, throw herself through windows… Ah, right. That was used up to become the Chief Of Police and waste years of sleep and energy. . .Everyone had warned her of the task, but yet even the Avatar himself knew that nobody else could suit the job. Her palms dig into her makeshift bed, lifting herself up. Gray streaks of hair clouded her vision, but there was no use to the milky optics anyway. 

It’s silent in the Swamp, in a comforting way. Swinging her body off of the side of the bed, her feet connect with the ground and only valuable things appear in her vision, others she purposefully tunes out. Lin was in the station, probably pacing around while some men tried to use their misogynistic views to force her into an early retirement. . .Her Linny was stronger than that, any Beifong was! Her face creases as she smiles, wrinkles alerting her once again that she was turning 90 very quickly. To the west was Suyin, holding one of her many grandchildren to her chest. When Toph had told her to make a city, she didn’t include repopulation. . .whatever, the woman was happy and that was all the mother wanted. 

Maybe a visit was in order, but judging by their last visits, it had only made Toph sink further into the Swamp with no alert, no invitation. Screaming, earth cracking under such power, children hiding. . .It was her fault, that she could admit to herself and nobody else. Her ego kept her in check, making sure no weakness was apparent on the surface and that the metal fortress she had built around her heart couldn’t be broken into, even by the fiercest of people. 

The fiercest of people. . .Aang, Sokka, Zuko, Katara, Suki. . .Or, as she preferred, Twinkletoes, Councilman, Sparky, Sugar Queen and Honey. The nicknames had grown on them, but so had age. Aang was taken gently, softly as he deserved after all of those years of passionately fighting--anyone who didn’t know he was 166 would have thought he died early, but Toph knew the truth. His heartbeat was slower, he was drawn towards the earth more than he ever was. . .The idea churns her stomach, immediately making the elder woman stand up and begin to walk, pacing just so she wouldn’t turn into a broken record. 

As if she wasn’t one--when Sokka had passed, oh, she remembers sobbing for years about the man. The one true love that held her in the morning when she was finally at rest, the arms that she suddenly fell into that seemed so unfamiliar yet she had known the feeling for a thousand years. . .Sokka, oh, Sokka. The name would spill from her mouth in any form--anger, passion, love, sadness. . . 

Toph knows she’s facing the sun but cannot tell if she was staring directly into the sun or not. . .Not like her retina would have been affected anyway, she was already blind enough. The sun is warmth, the way a blanket would wrap around you in the coldest of nights and the way she would gather around campfires with her friends. They would giggle around the campfire, tell stories that made everyone shiver until they were in their sleeping bags and attempt to regain any youth that they had lost when they were teenagers due to fighting in a war. . .Oh, the war! Ozai, the bastard and Azula, the psychotic. . .Toph no longer fidgets with her hair when she thinks of those days, but sighs instead. She was only twelve when she was one of the top soldiers. . .At fifteen, when the Beifong should have been in school and giggling about the  
cute boy, she was pardoned from crimes and dealing with her PTSD that struck like a serpent when she was asleep. 

The wind gales through her gray locks, before finally settling. Toph purses her chapped lips, letting a sigh rumble through her nose. He still wasn’t quiet, still the rambunctious little boy that she had once met in Earth Rumble IV. . .She chortles for a moment, before tilting her head. 

“You’ve never been quiet, Twinkletoes.” 

A scoff comes from her left side, she just knows his arms are crossed over his chest and he’s pointing his nose towards the sky in a pretentious way. 

“And, you’re the same little princess I always knew.” 

“I’m not little, Toph. I’ve got. . .like, three heads on you!” He accuses, tone light and airy. 

“Yeah, tell the measurement to the blind woman.” She snorts as she kicks the dirt, a little pebble skipping around. 

The pair rest in silence for just a moment, with her arms resting at her side and the taller Avatar looking down at the woman. Toph had aged, he hadn’t gotten to look at her besides from when he finally passed on, spirit watching as multiple statues around the Air Temple fell in her wake of power. . .And his Sifu was just standing there, tears pouring down her face as Sokka held her close and wept into her neck. 

How long could she put this facade on? Where the vines would show her the people she so dearly missed with her entire soul. . .she knew that he wasn’t standing next to her, there was no heartbeat and there was no more softness in the air. 

“. . .You know that I know you’re not really there.” Toph blinks as she looks forward, ignoring the ache in her heart. 

The air whips around once more, howling. Her eyes clench close, keeping the tears at bay before she drives herself down an impossible hole. She turns around on her heel, walking back to her camp that she had set up. There is a gentle fire still from last night, just enough to make some piss poor tea since Iroh had passed. Nobody’s tea lived up to his, for some odd reason it felt unique. . .even if it was just some hot leaf juice. 

There was nobody in the swamp, just the woman alone. That was a common theme in her life--alone. No, she was not alone but Toph Beifong was lonely. The heartbeats were distant, but her seismic sense had only gotten stronger as she grew older. . .Hence why she was able to see Zuko with his daughter, probably nagging her. The idea makes her snort, the nearly blind man was still the same man he was when he was first congratulated as Fire Lord. 

Ah, the tea pot begins to hiss for her attention and she goes over to the ceramic pot, pouring some into a little cup that Lin had made her when she was a little girl school. It’s smooth, gentle and has no rough edges. . .Of course, Lin had used her earthbending. God knows that girl couldn’t do art even when she tried her hardest, but Suyin was just like her father. . .Painting before she could even metalbend properly. 

She sips the hot tea, ignorant to the burning sensation on her tongue and allowing the hot tea to soothe her throat. Toph knows there isn’t much to do in the Swamp besides sulk. . .It made her feel like Mai, unamused with the idea of anything and bored even if a triad were to angrily storm her--nothing she couldn’t whoop even if she was edging on 90 years of age. 

Realistically, she doesn’t do much until the sun sets. The Beifong paced around, toying with little metal trinkets that Sokka had said were wonderfully artistic. . .Maybe he had rubbed off on her, more than she had cared to admit. They were the unstoppable duo, the ones that took on life and stared someone in the eyes until the person walked away and they were left in laughter that once made Sokka accidentally piss himself--oh man, the memory alone made her laugh alone before it slowly turned into a sad frown. 

Her entire body aches and her back cracks as she walks over to the bed once again, laying herself down and moving the blanket over her body. It’s warm tonight, probably from sunbathing all day. . .It makes her hum appreciatively. 

“Move over, beautiful.” 

The voice startles her, making her whip around entirely too fast as a weight is on the side of the bed that she had just entered. . .No, it couldn’t. . .It couldn’t-- 

“Sokka?” She hoarsely speaks, as lips brush against her forehead, making her eyes blink tiredly. 

“Pronounced with an ‘Ah-ka’.” He chuckles as he dips himself into the bed, watching the love of his life through eyes that he hadn’t seen. 

She aged. . .gorgeously. Her skin was still as clear as day, only wrinkles appearing gently. While his sister had gained soft weight that evened herself out, his Beifong seemed just as tiny as the day he left--the woman ate more than him and yet never seemed to gain an ounce of weight. This is his Toph, his lily, his. . .everything. 

“You’re fucking kidding,” Toph stammers, “Y-you are dead, Sokka.” 

“I’ve got my ways of seeing the love of my life,” He loops their hands together, ever naturally spooning the (now) older woman, “I would push mountains for you, even if you could move them just by lifting your pinky.” 

She’s silent, the warmth behind her easing her into a harbor that she hadn’t realized she needed. Goddammit, this is feeding into her delusion, her downhill slope of mental illness that made her feel like Azula. 

“This isn’t real. You’re not real.” Toph frantically speaks, trying anything to not cave in instantaneously. 

“I think I’m pretty real,” Sokka contradicts, “Wanna punch me to find out?” 

Her fist lands into his hip, making him wheeze in a moment of pain and she. . .she felt his heartbeat ever real. Her eyes line with tears and she whips herself around again, burrowing into him and sobbing. 

“You ASSHOLE!” She screams, tears staining his blue watertribe shirt. 

“. . .I know, baby. I’m the worst.” He murmurs into her gray hair, it still smelt like peppermint and fresh cut grass. . .god, was she still addicting to this age. 

“You LEFT me,” Toph pulls back, milky optics staring at his chest, “A-and now, now, you-you’re HERE!?” 

“I told you,” Sokka grabs one of her hands and places it on his firm chest muscle, “I’m never ever leaving without you. My time was up, Toph. I never willingly left the love of my goddamn life. You can punch me, kick me--kiss me, if you wanna--and anything you want to do for what I’ve done. . .” 

“I’m all ugly now,” Toph shakes her head, “I’m not that spry woman that would jump onto your back and demand we ride into the sunset. . .I’m old.” 

“No, Toph,” He shakes his head as his index finger hooks under her chin, just like the way they used to, “I still want you just as much as I did then. . .I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you. I have one question, baby.” 

“You know I hated when you called me that,” She sniffles with a laugh, “But, only you call me that.” 

“I haven’t died yet from a rockalanche. . .” He smiles softly at her, even if it would have been missed, “Are you ready, Toph?” 

“For what?” She furrows her brows. 

“Our final mission.” 

Her eyes widen--it all came flooding into her at once. . .This wasn’t a sweet visit where she could call upon him daily and they would live in the Swamp. . .He was here to relieve her of her earthly duties, give her a new mission with him in the Spirit world. She gulps down an invisible wad of gum. . .They would learn to forgive her, eventually. 

Without warning, she pushes her lips to his, chapped and all and their lips meet once again. It had been such sweet sorrow to go without his lips, it had been nearly twenty years since she kissed him. . .Her body feels light, airy as their tongues greet as familiar lovers, taking her to a euphoria that she hadn’t felt in years. She pulls away for a breath, only to see a colored man in front of her. He had the skin of hot chocolate, while her skin was ivory. 

“Baby?” His voice is just as velvety as it was ever. 

“I. . I can see you.” She whispers, smacking a hand over her mouth. There’s no sagged skin there, only the tight skin from when she was twenty five. 

“Welcome to the Spirit world, Toph Beifong.” 

**Author's Note:**

> TOPH GETS HER VISION AND SEES HER MAN!!!!!!! SHUT UP IM HAPPY :,) have a good night, a great day or a good rest. i love you so and i will write again <3


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